The car ride felt both achingly familiar and strangely new. The cracked leather seats, Steve humming off-key to the radio, your mom smiling quietly at the wheel — all the same as every summer before. But you weren’t the same. Sixteen had settled on your shoulders like salt in the breeze: heavy at times, but also making everything sparkle.

You pulled up to the beach house just past noon. The same peeling white fence, the same porch where you’d left your flip-flops every summer since you could remember. Steve barely let the car stop before jumping out, his grin wide as he ran up to Jeremiah, pulling him into a hug that turned into a wrestling match within seconds.

You stepped out, the sun warm on your bare shoulders, your hair lifting gently in the sea wind. You watched Steve and Jeremiah, your lips tugging into a small, fond smile. Then you saw him.

Conrad.

He’d come around the side of the house, hair a little longer than last summer, shadows under his eyes that hadn’t been there before. He caught your gaze, and for a second the rest of the world — Steve yelling, the car door slamming, the waves behind the dunes — faded away. You smiled, soft and a little shy, like you always did around him.

Your mom had always teased you. Said Conrad was your sun. It sounded cheesy, but you never denied it. Even when he barely looked your way.

The moment broke when Jeremiah peeled himself away from Steve and sauntered over, eyes dancing with mischief. “Look who grew up,” he teased, his gaze sweeping over you.

You rolled your eyes, but your smile betrayed you. “Shut up, Jere.”

He laughed, ruffling your hair the way he always had, and just like that, you felt the knot of nerves loosen in your chest. Jeremiah had always been your best friend. Easy, warm, a constant you could count on.

Conrad was different. You stole a glance at him as Jeremiah pulled you toward the porch. He was still watching you, lips curved in something almost like a smile, but softer, sadder.

You didn’t know what this summer would bring. Only that you had changed. And maybe, just maybe, this was the summer everything else would too.